Blanket and napped material therefor



Jan. 17, 1956 c. D. OWEN, JR

BLANKET AND NAPPED MATERIAL. THEREFOR Filed March 17, 1955 JNVENTOR.

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ATTOFNIFVJ United States Patent BLANKET AND NAPPED MATERIAL THEREFOR Charles D. Owen, Jr., Biltmore, N. C., assignor to Beacon Manufacturing Company, a corporation of Massachusetts Application March 17, 1953, Serial No. 342,776

4 Claims. (Cl. 139-391) This invention relates to a household blanket, or blanket cloth, composed exclusively or predominantly of artificial fibers, and more particularly to a filling yarn arrangement in woven products of this type that requires no core thread, whereby the amount of filling is appreciably increased and is napped more efiiciently and uniformly. This improvement results in a blanket, having a more uniform and loftier nap.

In the H. C. Whitman Patent No. 1,249,266, issued December 4, 1917, there is disclosed a blanket composed of a mixture of natural and artificial fibers Woven in conventional manner and having both the warp and filling yarns napped to resemble wool. This blanket contains no core thread or other strengthening fibers and therefore has relatively low strength.

In the Robert Amory Patent No. 2,208,533, issued July 16, 1940, an improved household blanket containing predominantly artificial fibers is described. A special feature of that blanket is the use of a composite filling yarn composed of undrafted artificial fibers loosely wound with a small but relatively strong core thread. Although this core thread serves as a reinforcement of the filling yarn, it has the disadvantage of limiting the total permissible weight of napped filling yarn by the amount of core thread used, and of restricting, inthe core thread areas, the effective napping surface of the filling yarn. As a result the blanket does not possess the desired uniformity of napped surface or the maximum loft of napped fibers.

In accordance with the present invention, I have obtained a substantial improvement in this type of household blanket and material therefor, in which I eliminate the core thread from the filling yarns which are to be napped, and thereby avoid its disadvantages. At the same time, I provide adequate reinforcement for the filling by use of a limited number of spaced strengthening threads arranged parallel to the napped filling yarns in the filling component of the blanket.

The new blanket or napped blanket cloth of the present invention is woven with a hard, twisted warp thread and a soft spun filling yarn. The spinning may be performed on either a woolen system, cotton waste system or spun yarn system. The weaving is carried out in such a way as to produce a construction of blanket material having a top face and a bottom face of the same character.

The fibers in the filling and warp threads may consist of the synthetic cellulose acetate, viscose rayon, Dynel, Orlon, Dacron, nylon, etc. fibers or mixtures thereof and may contain cellulose fibers such as cotton or Wool if desired, blended in any desired proportions. It is the soft spun yarn in the filling that provides the warmth in the blanket and the maximum warmth is dependent upon the extent and uniformity of the napping of this filling yarn. The improved filling yarn arrangement of the present invention makes possible a maximum uniform napping and a maximum Warmth.

The soft spun filling yarn free of any core yarn restriction exposes a greater surface of that yarn for napping. Also, the amount of filling yarn is increased relative to the decrease in core yarn. For example, in a three and three-quarter, 3%, pound blanket made in accordance with this invention, there may be at least 3.03 pounds of the soft spun filling yarn for napping, which is equivalent to an increase of 0.22 pound, or 7.8%, in this filling yarn as compared with that in which the total amount of filling yarn is restricted by a normal core thread content.

The strengthening or binder filling threads used in accordance with this invention are at least 50% less in number or amount than when core yarns are used in the blanket. In a core yarn type of blanket each filling yarn is wrapped with a core yarn, so that there are an equal number of filling yarns and core yarns. In the blanket structure of the present invention, the filling yarns are at least twice, and as many as three times if desired, the number of strengthening or binder threads woven into the blanket structure along with the filling yarns. These binder threads, which are woven parallel with the filling yarns, are interlaced with the warp threads and do not interfere with the soft spun filling yarns, thereby allowing the soft spun yarn to be napped into a better cover and more lofty fabric, which is essential to greater warmth.

The strengthening or binder threads above mentioned are hard twisted threads of comparative high tensile strength, such as, for example, l0s to 30s spun on a conventional cotton system, and are woven in parallel spaced relationship to the soft spun slack-twisted coarse filling yarns, which may be ls to 5s and made on either the woolen, cotton waste or conventional cotton spun systems. Generally speaking, these soft spun filling yarns for use in blankets or napped fabrics will have not less than 4 turns per inch twisted and not more than 7 turns per inch twisted.

All of the filling yarns, intended for napping and for supplying strength, are woven in conventional manner with warp yarns which are hard twisted, like the filling strengthening yarns, and run lengthwise of the blanket. This provides a foundation, for the blanket cloth, of hard twisted warp yarn interlaced at with hard twisted strengthening or binder yarns in the filling, and this arrangement permits the soft filling yarns to be interlaced separately and thereby facilitates the formation of a good lofty nap when these soft filling yarns are subjected to the usual napping operation, and without interference of the usual hard twisted core yarns wrapped around the napped filling yarns.

The number of soft spun filling yarns used in this invention is greater than the number of hard twisted filling strengthening yarns, and preferably in the ratio of at least 2 to l and possibly as high as 3 to l. Illustrative but non-limiting examples of the combination of soft and hard twisted filling yarns woven in accordance with this invention are as follows, the soft spun filling yarns being made on either the woolen, cotton waste or conventional cotton systems, and the hard twisted filling strengthening yarns being made on the conventional cotton system, in each instance.

Example 1 Four picks of soft spun yarn (ls to 5s) Two picks of hard twist yarn (10s to 30s) Ratio2:l

Example 2 Six picks of soft spun yarn (PS to 5s) Two picks of hard twist yarn (10s to 30s) Ratio3:1

Example 3 Eight picks of soft spun yarn (ls to 5s) Four picks of hard twist yarn (10s to 30s) Ratio-2:1

The above combinations can be varied according to the weight and strength of fabric desired.

The blankets or napped blanket cloth made in accordance with this invention may be either so-called double weave, face and back, or so-called single weave, plain or twill, or any desired variations thereof.

Further features of the present invention will be best understood by a consideration of the following more de tailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary diagrammatic perspective view of blanket cloth formed in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken substantially along lines 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary schematic plan view of the weave construction employed in the blanket cloth illustrated in Pig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is a sectional detail taken substantially on the line 4-4 in Fig. 3.

In the blanket cloth illustrated in Fig. l, as indicated by the reference 10, the warp is shown at 12 and the napped filling yarns at 14, with the hard twisted filling yarns i6 alternately disposed according to the present invention to provide adequate filling strength as previously mentioned. As shown, the weave construction illustrated in Fig. 1 comprises four picks of the napped filling yarn 14 to every two picks of the hard twisted filling yarn l6.

Fig. 2 illustrates the manner in which the above indicated weave construction frees the filling yarn 14 for napping, the hard twisted filling 16 being disposed separately to the side of adjacent napped filling yarns 14 rather than being Wrapped therearound as a core yarn to restrict the surface thereof available for napping.

In Figs. 3 and 4, the Weave construction described above is illustrated schematically. The weave construction shown in the drawings represents the preferred ratio of 2:1 between napped filling yarn 14 and hard twisted filling 16, although this ratio may be increased as previously noted. In any case, however, it will be recognized that there will necessarily be a minimum of two picks of the hard twisted filling yarn 16 to every group of picks of the napped filling yarn 14, because the shuttle carrying the hard twisted filling yarn 16 must at least pass out and back through the warp yarns 12 upon each use in the course of the weaving operation, and it will also be apparent that for the same reason the number of picks of napped filling yarn 14 will necessarily be some multiple of two.

The blanket construction shown in the drawing is of the type commonly referred to in the trade as double woven, but it is to be understood that the present invention is applicable to single woven and generally to other types of woven blankets and blanket cloth.

The present invention has been described in detail above for purposes of illustration only and is not intended to be limited by this description or otherwise except as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A household blanket composed of woven warp and filling yarns, said warp yarns being hard twisted yarns of relatively high strength and said filling yarns consisting in part of soft slack twisted yarns free of core threads and being uniformly napped to provide a high lofty nap which imparts warmth properties to the blanket, and the other filling yarns providing strength for the filling and being hard twisted yarns of relatively great strength and located in parallel relationship with said napped soft filling yarns and the number of said napped filling yarns being at least twice the number of said hard twisted filling yarns with each hard twisted filling yarn being disposed adjacent a pick of the same yarn and being woven in the same shed with an adjacent napped filling yarn.

2. In blanket cloth composed of interwoven warp and filling yarns and the filling yarns being napped to provide warmth in the blanket, the improvement of the filling yarns being composed in part of soft spun slack twisted yarns uniformly napped to impart warmth characteristics to the blanket cloth, and composed in part of hard twisted unnapped strengthening yarns located in parallel relationship to said napped soft spun filling yarns but not wound around said napped filling yarns, and the number of said napped filling yarns being at least twice the number of said unnapped filling strengthening yarns with each strengthening yarn being disposed adjacent a pick of the same yarn and being woven in the same shed with an adjacent napped filling yarn.

3. An improved blanket cloth construction consisting predominantly of synthetic fibers and containing interwoven warp and filling yarns, said Warp yarns being hard twisted yarns and the greater number of said filling yarns being composed of slack twisted soft spun napped yarns free of core threads, the remainder of said filling yarns being unnapped hard twisted strengthening yarns each woven in the same shed with an adjacent soft filling yarn and disposed adjacent a pick of said strengthening yarn.

4. A napped synthetic fiber household blanket composed of Warp and filling yarns, said warp yarns being hard twisted strengthening yarns and said filling yarns comprising in part hard twisted strengthening yarns, but containing a greater number of slack twisted soft napped filling yarns free of core threads and providing a maximum area for napping, each hard twisted filling yarn being disposed adjacent a pick of the same yarn and being woven in the same shed with an adjacent napped filling yarn.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

